Friday, February 24, 2012

Last September, I was proud to be part of a delicious Filipino culinary event called "The Pleasure of Pig Parts and Beer", and it was geared towards beer pairings with Filipino pork dishes. It was hosted by myself and fellow Filipino food bloggers, Karena and Haydee of the Pig Parts and Beer Blog. What was really cool about this event was that it was a Filipino food trifecta. In one corner were a trio of Filipino Food bloggers. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the three of us, but here's a picture of 3 of the 5 beers used in the pairings and the San Miguel is actually a popular Filipino beer.

In another corner was the delicious food from the Filipino food truck, Neri's Curbside Cravings.

Finally, two of the beers for this event came from Filipino-owned Eagle Rock Brewery.

It all came together for a delicious evening starting with our first pairing which consisted of a Lumpia Shanghai (fried spring roll filled with minced pork, carrot, onion and egg with sweet chili dipping sauce) paired with a San Miguerita (San Miguel beer, tequila, calamansi juice, salt and lime). The crunchy porky goodness of the lumpia was a nice foil for this refreshing beer cocktail.

Next was the Sisig (pork sizzled with chiles, ginger, garlic, vinegar and calamansi) paired with an Anchor Small Beer, which you can see below as well as a photo of the Curbside Cravings Crew. I'm not much of a beer expert, but I think I tasted citrusy notes that went well with the tart-sour-spicy flavors of the Sisig dish.

Our third pairing was all about the Mini Tocino Burger (house-cured pork in sugar and anise wine with pickled garnishes in a pan de sal roll) paired with Eagle Rock Brewery Revolution XPA. Given the richness and strong sweetness of the tocino, the slight bitterness of this beer was a good counter balance.

The last savory pairing of the night was the Crispy Pork Adobo (diced pork cooked in vinegar, bay leaf, black pepper, garlic, soy sauce and pineapple juice then deep-fried) paired with Cable Car Small Batch Amber Ale. This was actually my favorite duo of the night. First, who can say "No" to deep-fried pork. I know I can't. As for the beer, I can't remember anything distinct about it. I just remember that the beer and this pork complemented each other exceptionally well.

The evening ended with the Macapuno Manifesto Beer Float, which was sweetened young coconut ice cream with Eagle Rock Brewery's signature white ale, Manifesto. As an ice cream lover, this was the perfect way to finish up this evening of pig parts and beer.

Overall, this was definitely a fun time and I really have to give credit where credit is due. While the Pig Parts and Beer ladies and I came up with the idea for this event, they really did all the heavy duty party planning. I just had to help spread the word and show up.

In the end, the goal of Karena and Haydee is to help showcase Filipino food whether it's through their blog or setting up events highlighting Filipino food and Filipinos who are in the food business. I'd say that "The Pleasure of Pig Parts and Beer" was definitely a great start and I look forward to seeing what they come up with next. So if you want to stay in the know, be sure to visit their contact links below and you can also see the pertinent links for Neri's Curbside Cravings and Eagle Rock Brewery.

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About Me

I'm a Dining Group Organizer and Food Blogger who has a passion for all things tasty and absolutely loves setting up culinary outings all over LA! If you'd like to contact me, my email address is abby@pleasurepalate.com.